COLUMBIA, SC (FOX Carolina) -
A Gaffney woman and former Cherokee County deputy clerk was sentenced to eight months in prison after admitting to stealing $60,000 to pay child support fund run by the county.
United States Attorney Bill Nettles said Melanie Sparks, 40, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Anderson to the prison time followed by eight months of home confinement, and she must pay restitution.
Sparks pleaded guilty to embezzlement in August. Investigators said that Sparks, while employed in the county's child support section of the Clerk of Court's office, stole money from cash receipts between January 2008 and November 2009.
An internal audit revealed the discrepancies after Sparks often rewrote the deposit tickets of other workers at the office in order to steal from child support payments. The stolen money was used to pay for an online pottery business and her personal expenses, Nettles said.
Copyright 2013 FOX Carolina (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
